The Great Tornado of 1854

 

The Spirit of Democracy, 8 Mar 1854.

The clipping above mentions a damaging tornado struck Harrison, Ohio on 14 February 1854. February storms with such intensity are rare, but do occur as storm fronts clash. Other news articles of the day document an earlier round of damaging storms and a tornado that struck Knox County, Ohio on 20 January 1854. Researchers of the day noted that the January storm stretched from Little Rock, Arkansas through Pennsylvania.

In 1854, my 4th-great-grandfather George Oyler Sr was operating a tavern in Harrison, Ohio. We know about this from the land deed recorded two years earlier, on 14 February 1852, for the building adjoining his Buck Tavern. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on the losses from the tornado, and mentioned George Oyler's tavern below:

Cleveland Plain Dealer, 22 Feb 1854.